> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.topograph.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hong Kong

> Country-specific identifiers, data sources, and data availability

## Start here

This guide contains public integration notes for Hong Kong. Use it for identifier formats, search behavior, and country-specific caveats. The live source of truth for coverage, pricing, data sources, documents, legal forms, roles, and status values is the pricing page.

<Card title="Hong Kong coverage, pricing, and sources" icon="arrow-up-right-from-square" href="https://topograph.co/pricing/hk">
  Open the current catalog for supported datapoints, documents, sources, identifiers, and availability.
</Card>

<Note>
  Country details below are preserved as integration notes. If a table or example conflicts with the live pricing page, use the pricing page as the source of truth and contact support.
</Note>

## Data Sources

Hong Kong uses a single official registry for company data. For a given entity, **all data comes from one source**: the Companies Registry's online portal.

### All company types

* **ICRIS (Integrated Companies Registry Information System)**: Operated by the Hong Kong Companies Registry (a department of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau), ICRIS is the **sole data source** for all Hong Kong entities. The Companies Registry was established under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), which came into effect on 3 March 2014, replacing the former Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32). ICRIS provides two access channels: **(1)** a structured **Open Data API** (`data.cr.gov.hk`) for company search by name or BRN, returning basic company particulars (name, type, address, incorporation date); **(2)** **Company Particulars pages** accessible via the e-Services Portal (`e-services.cr.gov.hk`), which provide comprehensive company information including directors, company secretary, share capital, and shareholder details.

<Note>
  Company profile data (legal representatives, shareholders, share capital, detailed company information) is **AI-extracted** from the ICRIS Company Particulars page, retrieved from the ICRIS e-Services Portal. Search results come from the structured ICRIS Open Data API.
</Note>

## Company Identifiers

### Query Identifiers

| Company Type      | Source | Format         | Example    | Notes                        |
| ----------------- | ------ | -------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------- |
| **All companies** | ICRIS  | 8 digits (BRN) | `77054426` | Business Registration Number |

<Warning>
  **BRN vs CI Number:** Always use the **Business Registration Number** (BRN, 8 digits) when querying the API. The Certificate of Incorporation (CI) number is a separate identifier and will **not** work with our endpoints.
</Warning>

### Identifiers in API Response

| Identifier Type | Format   | Example    | Found In      |
| --------------- | -------- | ---------- | ------------- |
| `brn`           | 8 digits | `77054426` | All companies |

## Search Capabilities

| Search Type | Pattern     | Example                  | Match Type | Expected Results                                                     |
| ----------- | ----------- | ------------------------ | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| By BRN      | 8 digits    | `77054426`               | Exact      | Exact match returned first (matchType: id); other results may follow |
| By Name     | Text string | `"Technology Advantage"` | Prefix     | Multiple results (begins-with match)                                 |

<Tip>
  **Search Performance:** Use BRN-based searches for exact matching and best performance. Name searches use a `begins_with` match on the ICRIS Open Data API. Partial names must match from the beginning of the company name.
</Tip>

## Quirks & Gotchas

| Quirk                                          | Details                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **BRN vs CI Number**                           | Always use the **Business Registration Number** (BRN, 8 digits), not the Certificate of Incorporation (CI) number. They are different identifiers.                                                                |
| **Bilingual names**                            | Hong Kong companies can have an English name, a Chinese name, or both. The ICRIS API returns both when available. The `legalName` field returns the English name if available, falling back to Chinese.           |
| **Prefix-match name search**                   | Name searches use a `begins_with` match on the ICRIS Open Data API, not fuzzy search. Partial names must match from the beginning.                                                                                |
| **Company Secretary is mandatory**             | Every HK company must have a Company Secretary, which can be an individual or a corporate entity. This role appears under legal representatives.                                                                  |
| **No UBO data**                                | Ultimate Beneficial Owner information is not publicly disclosed in Hong Kong. Companies must maintain a Significant Controllers Register (SCR) internally, but this is not accessible via the Companies Registry. |
| **All profile data is AI-extracted**           | Company profile data (beyond basic search fields) is AI-extracted from the ICRIS Company Particulars HTML page. Data quality depends on parsing accuracy.                                                         |
| **Share capital in HKD**                       | Share capital is typically denominated in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). Some companies may have share capital in other currencies.                                                                                     |
| **All activity codes are AI-inferred**         | Hong Kong does not provide structured activity codes in ICRIS. NACE and ISIC codes are always AI-inferred from business descriptions when available.                                                              |
| **Retrieval time \~3 minutes**                 | The Company Particulars page is retrieved from the ICRIS e-Services Portal. Requests have a 5-minute timeout with automatic retries.                                                                              |
| **Address may be in Chinese only**             | Registered office addresses on the Company Particulars page are sometimes in Chinese only, without English transliteration.                                                                                       |
| **Company profile charges a register extract** | A company profile request includes retrieval of the Company Particulars document from the official registry. This means `companyProfile` incurs the cost of the register extract catalog item.                    |

## Mappings

### Company Status

Company status is **AI-extracted** from the ICRIS Company Particulars page. The AI parser identifies status indicators in the HTML content.

| Local Status | English    | Standardized Status         | Notes                                          |
| ------------ | ---------- | --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Live         | Live       | Active                      | Company is currently active                    |
| Dissolved    | Dissolved  | Closed                      | Company has been dissolved                     |
| Winding Up   | Winding Up | Under Insolvency Proceeding | Company is in liquidation                      |
| Struck Off   | Struck Off | Closed                      | Company removed from register by the Registrar |

<Note>
  Status mapping is AI-inferred from the Company Particulars page content. The local status value is preserved verbatim as it appears on the ICRIS page.
</Note>

### Legal Forms

Hong Kong company types are identified from the ICRIS `Company_Type` field in search results and from the Company Particulars page. The mapping to standardized forms and **ISO 20275 (ELF)** codes is **AI-enriched**.

<Note>
  Legal form standardization and ISO 20275 assignment are AI-enriched. The local company type from ICRIS is always preserved verbatim.
</Note>

Under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), Section 66, the following types of companies may be formed in Hong Kong:

#### Private Companies

| Local Name                                      | Standardized              | ISO 20275 | Notes                                 |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Private company limited by shares               | Limited Liability Company | 254M      | Most common company type in Hong Kong |
| Private unlimited company with share capital    | Unlimited Company         | -         | Members have unlimited liability      |
| Private unlimited company without share capital | Unlimited Company         | -         | Very rare                             |

#### Public Companies

| Local Name                       | Standardized           | ISO 20275 | Notes                                                                                          |
| -------------------------------- | ---------------------- | --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Public company limited by shares | Corporation            | -         | Listed or unlisted public companies                                                            |
| Company limited by guarantee     | Nonprofit Organization | -         | Common for charities, clubs, and professional bodies; cannot have share capital under Cap. 622 |

#### Foreign Entities

| Local Name                       | Standardized                    | ISO 20275 | Notes                                                                 |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Registered non-Hong Kong company | Branch or Representative Office | -         | Foreign companies registered under Part 16 of the Companies Ordinance |

### Legal Representatives

Legal representatives are **AI-extracted** from the ICRIS Company Particulars page. Names can be in **English**, **Chinese**, or both. Both individuals and corporate entities can hold the Director role.

| Local Role | English Translation | Classification       |
| ---------- | ------------------- | -------------------- |
| Director   | Director            | Legal Representative |

### Other Key Persons

| Local Role        | English Translation | Classification   |
| ----------------- | ------------------- | ---------------- |
| Company Secretary | Company Secretary   | Other Key Person |

<Note>
  In Hong Kong, a **Company Secretary** is a mandatory statutory position for all companies incorporated under the Companies Ordinance. The Company Secretary can be either an individual or a corporate entity. In our API response, the Company Secretary appears under `legalRepresentatives` with a standardized role of "Secretary".
</Note>

### Shareholders

Shareholders are **AI-extracted** from the ICRIS Company Particulars page when shareholding information is disclosed.

#### Extraction Logic

| Source                          | When Used               | Data Extracted                                          |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Company Particulars (ICRIS)** | Always (when available) | Shareholder names, share classes, number of shares held |

#### Ownership Fields

| Field             | Description                                | Source                                                              |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `name`            | Shareholder name (individual or corporate) | AI-extracted from Company Particulars                               |
| `type`            | Individual or Company                      | AI-inferred from name format                                        |
| `sharePercentage` | Ownership percentage                       | Calculated from shares held vs total issued shares (when available) |

<Note>
  Shareholder availability depends on the company type and what is disclosed on the Company Particulars page. Private companies limited by shares typically show share capital structure, but individual shareholdings may not always be detailed in the public record. Shareholders are not available for guarantee companies (which have members, not shareholders).
</Note>

### Activity Code Mapping

Hong Kong does not use a standardized national industry classification code in the ICRIS Company Particulars page. Activity information, when available, is extracted from the company's stated objects or business description and mapped via AI:

```
Business Description (free text) → AI → NACE Rev. 2 + ISIC Rev. 4
```

| Classification           | Source                               | AI Inferred?       |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------ | ------------------ |
| **Business Description** | Company Particulars (when stated)    | No (official text) |
| **NACE**                 | AI-derived from business description | Yes                |
| **ISIC**                 | AI-derived from business description | Yes                |

<Note>
  Hong Kong uses the **HSIC** (Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification) for statistical purposes, but this code is not present in Company Particulars data. Both NACE and ISIC codes are therefore **always AI-inferred** when activity data is available.
</Note>

## Data Availability

### Data Availability Matrix

| Data Type                  | Availability | Notes                                                                                     |
| -------------------------- | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Company Profile            | ✅ Async      | Legal name (EN/CN), status, legal form, incorporation date, address, share capital, phone |
| Legal Representatives      | ✅ Async      | Directors from ICRIS Company Particulars (AI-extracted)                                   |
| Other Key Persons          | ✅ Async      | Company Secretary from ICRIS Company Particulars (AI-extracted)                           |
| Shareholders               | ⚠️ Async     | When disclosed in Company Particulars (AI-extracted)                                      |
| Ultimate Beneficial Owners | ❌            | Not publicly disclosed in Hong Kong (SCR is internal only)                                |
| Activity Codes             | ⚠️ Async     | AI-inferred from business description when available                                      |
| Establishments             | ❌            | Not available from ICRIS                                                                  |
| Documents                  | ✅ Async      | Company Particulars PDF                                                                   |

**Legend:** ✅ Available | ❌ Not Available | ⚠️ Conditionally Available | Async = Asynchronous processing (up to 5-minute timeout)

### Documents by Company Type

| Document Type           | API Category           | Format | Availability    | Notes                                                              |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------- | ------ | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Company Particulars** | `tradeRegisterExtract` | PDF    | ✅ All companies | Company Particulars PDF retrieved from the ICRIS e-Services Portal |

<Note>
  The Company Particulars PDF is retrieved from the ICRIS e-Services Portal. This is the same document used for AI-parsing the company profile data.
</Note>

### Example API Responses

All examples use **placeholder data**. Query: `POST /v2/company` with `{ "id": "<BRN>", "countryCode": "HK", "dataPoints": ["company", "legalRepresentatives"] }`

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Active Private Company Limited by Shares">
    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "company": {
        "id": "77054426",
        "countryCode": "HK",
        "phones": ["+85212345678"],
        "identifiers": { "brn": "77054426" },
        "legalName": "EXAMPLE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED",
        "legalNameInEnglish": "EXAMPLE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED",
        "incorporationDate": "2019-06-15",
        "status": { "localName": "Live", "active": true, "statusDetails": { "status": "ACTIVE" } },
        "legalForm": { "localName": "Private company limited by shares", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "254M", "englishTranslation": "Private company limited by shares" },
        "capital": { "amount": 10000, "currency": "HKD", "formatted": "HK$10,000" },
        "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Unit 1001, 10/F, Example Tower, 123 Des Voeux Road Central", "countryCode": "HK" }
      },
      "legalRepresentatives": [
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_001",
          "role": { "localName": "Director", "standardized": "Director", "englishTranslation": "Director" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "CHAN Tai Man" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        },
        {
          "type": "company",
          "entityId": "company_001",
          "role": { "localName": "Company Secretary", "standardized": "Secretary", "englishTranslation": "Company Secretary" },
          "company": { "id": "71580904", "legalName": "EXAMPLE SECRETARIAL SERVICES LIMITED", "countryCode": "HK" },
          "startDate": "2019-06-15"
        }
      ]
    }
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Active Company with Shareholders">
    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "company": {
        "id": "88123456",
        "countryCode": "HK",
        "identifiers": { "brn": "88123456" },
        "legalName": "GOLDEN DRAGON TRADING LIMITED",
        "legalNameInEnglish": "GOLDEN DRAGON TRADING LIMITED",
        "incorporationDate": "2020-03-20",
        "status": { "localName": "Live", "active": true, "statusDetails": { "status": "ACTIVE" } },
        "legalForm": { "localName": "Private company limited by shares", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "254M", "englishTranslation": "Private company limited by shares" },
        "capital": { "amount": 100000, "currency": "HKD", "formatted": "HK$10,000" },
        "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Room 501, 5/F, Example Building, 456 Nathan Road, Kowloon", "countryCode": "HK" }
      },
      "legalRepresentatives": [
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_001",
          "role": { "localName": "Director", "standardized": "Director", "englishTranslation": "Director" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "WONG Siu Ming" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        },
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_002",
          "role": { "localName": "Director", "standardized": "Director", "englishTranslation": "Director" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "LI Mei Ling" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        },
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_003",
          "role": { "localName": "Company Secretary", "standardized": "Secretary", "englishTranslation": "Company Secretary" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "CHEUNG Ka Wai" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        }
      ],
      "shareholders": [
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "sharePercentage": 60,
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "WONG Siu Ming" } }
        },
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "sharePercentage": 40,
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "LI Mei Ling" } }
        }
      ]
    }
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Dissolved Company">
    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "company": {
        "id": "71580904",
        "countryCode": "HK",
        "identifiers": { "brn": "71580904" },
        "legalName": "OLD TRADING COMPANY LIMITED",
        "legalNameInEnglish": "OLD TRADING COMPANY LIMITED",
        "incorporationDate": "2015-01-10",
        "status": { "localName": "Dissolved", "active": false, "statusDetails": { "status": "CLOSED" } },
        "legalForm": { "localName": "Private company limited by shares", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "254M", "englishTranslation": "Private company limited by shares" },
        "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Room 303, 3/F, Example Centre, 789 Queen's Road East", "countryCode": "HK" }
      },
      "legalRepresentatives": [
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_001",
          "role": { "localName": "Director", "standardized": "Director", "englishTranslation": "Director" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "LEE Wing Kee" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        }
      ],
      "shareholders": []
    }
    ```

    **Note:** Dissolved companies have `active: false`. Shareholder and capital information may not be available for dissolved companies.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Company with Chinese-Only Name and Address">
    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "company": {
        "id": "66789012",
        "countryCode": "HK",
        "identifiers": { "brn": "66789012" },
        "legalName": "Example Chinese Name Company",
        "incorporationDate": "2018-07-22",
        "status": { "localName": "Live", "active": true, "statusDetails": { "status": "ACTIVE" } },
        "legalForm": { "localName": "Private company limited by shares", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "254M", "englishTranslation": "Private company limited by shares" },
        "capital": { "amount": 10000, "currency": "HKD", "formatted": "HK$10,000" },
        "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Example address in Chinese characters", "countryCode": "HK" }
      },
      "legalRepresentatives": [
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_001",
          "role": { "localName": "Director", "standardized": "Director", "englishTranslation": "Director" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Example Chinese Name" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        },
        {
          "type": "individual",
          "entityId": "person_002",
          "role": { "localName": "Company Secretary", "standardized": "Secretary", "englishTranslation": "Company Secretary" },
          "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Example Secretary Name" }, "birthDate": {}, "residenceAddress": {} }
        }
      ]
    }
    ```

    **Note:** Some companies register only a Chinese name and address. The `legalNameInEnglish` field is absent when no English name is registered.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Available Documents">
    Documents are returned when `"dataPoints": ["availableDocuments"]` is requested.

    | API Category           | Document                             | Notes                       |
    | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------- |
    | `tradeRegisterExtract` | Company Particulars PDF (from ICRIS) | Available for all companies |
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Data Source Priority & Routing

Hong Kong uses a **single-source model**: all data comes exclusively from the ICRIS (Companies Registry). There is no priority chain or cross-registry merging.

<Note>
  **Data Flow for Company Profile:**

  1. **Search**: The ICRIS Open Data API (`data.cr.gov.hk`) is queried for basic company lookup by BRN or name
  2. **Document Retrieval**: The Company Particulars page is retrieved from the ICRIS e-Services Portal
  3. **AI Parsing**: The page content is parsed by AI models to extract: company information, legal representatives, and shareholders
  4. **Result Assembly**: The AI-extracted data is assembled into the standardized API response

  Requests have a 5-minute timeout with automatic retries on the document retrieval step.
</Note>

### Attribute-Level Source Mapping

| Attribute                  | Source                                 | AI-Parsed? | Notes                                                              |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Company name (EN/CN)       | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | English and/or Chinese name                                        |
| Legal form                 | ICRIS Company Particulars / Search API | Yes        | `Company_Type` field from search, confirmed by AI from Particulars |
| Status                     | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | AI-extracted from page content                                     |
| Incorporation date         | ICRIS Company Particulars / Search API | Partially  | `Date_of_Incorporation` from search API, confirmed by AI           |
| Registered address         | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | May be in Chinese only                                             |
| Share capital              | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | Amount and currency (typically HKD)                                |
| Phone numbers              | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | When listed on the page                                            |
| Directors                  | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | Individual and corporate directors                                 |
| Company Secretary          | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | Individual or corporate; mandatory position                        |
| Shareholders               | ICRIS Company Particulars              | Yes        | When disclosed; not always available                               |
| Activity codes (NACE/ISIC) | AI-inferred from business description  | Yes        | Always AI-inferred; no official ICRIS codes                        |